Wednesday, 28 January 2015

I haven't tried a Bobbi Brown mascara before - though I've heard a lot of good things about them there are a lot of mascaras out there to try, Bobbi Brown's always seem quite pricey and this is the most expensive of the lot. The Smokey Eye Mascara is the one I've wanted to try the most and I actually remembered to ask for it for Christmas (get me). It took a little while for me to get used to the formula but out of all the mascara's I'm using at the moment this is definitely my favourite. Possibly my new favourite mascara full stop!

Friday, 23 January 2015

This has shot to the top my list of favourite body moisturisers. Helps the horrible itchy dry skin I get at this time of year and I feel moisturised for 24 hours. There is no need to spend all your money on a good moisturiser - this is £4-5 for 400ml

Wednesday, 21 January 2015

I picked this up on a whim, Boots is pretty lethal like that. They've put all the baby stuff at the back of the shop and then the make-up in a long corridor by the tills so you have to look at all the lovely things. Yes I know it's deliberate and I should have more will power. But I don't and this is a prime example of my weakness.

I love the trend at the moment for pencils, spurred on I suppose by the Clinique Chubby Sticks, you can now literally draw all over your face and I'm always on the look out for something new to scribble with, they make your daily routine so incredibly quick. When I'm into something I will very quickly check out every available one in whichever shop I happen to be in, it doesn't mean I'll buy anything but when I pulled the Maybelline Colourdrama lip pencil in 140 Minimalist out I didn't even think twice about getting it - for me it is the perfect colour. It was £4.99 so I was willing to risk it not being very good.

Monday, 19 January 2015

I am a big fan of Instagram, admittedly nowadays my pictures are mostly dog and baby-related (I always forget to take pictures when I'm doing make-up) but as a make-up artist there are some really beautiful and inspiring accounts to follow so I thought I'd list a few of my favourites. Some are more well known than others, all are incredible. I'm going to do five now and five next month...

Pat McGrath (@patmcgrathreal) - I may as well start of with one of the biggest names in make-up artistry. A woman everyone wants to work with and everyone who has worked with her, loves. She's self taught and has made-up the faces of anyone worth making-up - if you love glitter, liner and beautiful skin this is an account to follow. For me Pat McGrath is queen.

Andrew Gallimore (@andrewgallimakeup) - If McGrath is queen then Gallimore is king and the book of his work photographed by Rankin (Andrew Gallimore by Rankin) was the make-up book of the past couple of years. The first UK Ambassador for Dior he is the master of colour and texture and he doesn't limit himself to creative shoots, he has done the make-up for a long list of celebrities including Jessie J, Annie Lennox and Beth Ditto to name but three.

Kenneth Soh (@kennethsohmakeup) - combining two of my favourite things make-up and food (though not usually at the same time) Kenneth Soh is the creator of flawless, beautiful shoots by day whilst cooking mouth-watering feasts in his time off. The perfect blend of make-up shoots, products and life, I love seeing his latest work, what's inspiring him and what he's eating!

Laura Louise (@lauraloumakeup) - combining sass, humour and an awe-inspiring trainer collection this talented make-up artist is completely on the button with everything cool that's going on in the industry from latest products, trends and styles she creates gorgeous looks not only for her work but also on herself most days.

Lottie (@lotstar) - it's not surprising this US make-up artist has over 53 thousand followers, if I'm flicking through Instagram in a hurry and something makes me stop and go back to have another look nine times out of ten it'll be Lottie's work. An impressive list of print work and assisting credits she not only creates beautiful wearable looks but my god she's amazing with glitter!

Wednesday, 14 January 2015

Since using this base coat I have not bought or used another one, even when I go for a manicure or pedicure I take this with me - it is my absolute number one nail base and I can't see that changing.

I originally bought it when I was first pregnant with Ned and was worried about the amount of toxic things I was no doubt pumping into my body without realising - I got my hair coloured throughout my pregnancy, wear make-up everyday and have nails painted most of the time.Butter Londonis a fantastic company which not only does the most stunning range of colours and finishes (and has recently branched out into make-up as well) but does a 3-Free range meaning no Dibutyl Phthalate, Toluene, and Formaldehyde. I supposed there was no point buying 3-Free lacquer's if I wasn't careful about what was in my base coat which led me to trying the Nail Foundation. The colours are not the longest lasting I've tried (though this is more due to my lousy application - it was their colour Snog that lasted months when I had the best pedicure I've ever had) but this base coat is so good that, if you are a fan of nude nails, you could wear it on it's own. It is like a make-up primer for the nails, creating a smooth surface covering all ridges and leaving a lovely silky matte finish. Fast drying it creates the perfect base on which to paint the colour of your choice and prevents staining even from the most treacherous colours and keeps nails in great condition. What you need to know - Butter London Nail Foundation

Monday, 12 January 2015

If the long bob is the 'trend' hair cut of the moment the soft wave long bob is the ultimate and now it is really easy to create this look at home and it won't take five hours to do it. If you have longer hair and struggle to find a curling product that suits the length then the Babyliss Boutique Soft Salon Waves may well be for you.

I have terrible hair at the moment. I haven't had anything done to it for a year, it's dry, it's damaged, it needs a good cut and it's not at all the full, glossy mane you are supposed to have when you are pregnant. I am at a loss to know what to do with it so I jumped at the chance to try out theBabyliss Boutique Salon Soft Wavescurling wand. I have actually wanted to try this out for some time but my hair will never successfully curl when I try to do it myself so I was reluctant to spend the money on something that may not work.

Monday, 5 January 2015

Ok so a new feature I've been thinking of for a while. How many times do you see a picture of someone or watch TV and think 'next time I do my make-up I'm going to try and do that'? Well I do it all the time and for so many different kinds of women purely depending on my mood. So I thought I'd have a look at each of my 'make-up muses' and pick out the bits of their look, style and make-up that I love. Now this may seem done to death but this is my blog and these are my make-up muses so some of them may be unexpected and Audrey Hepburn will not feature. It will be the first Monday of the month and you can search for them by clicking 'Muse' in the tag cloud in the right sidebar.

Thought I'd start this off with Gwen Stefani because, apart from the classic icons she has been one of my make-up muses since school and is still doing it! Whenever I see a picture of her even if I don't particularly love the outfit it is guaranteed that there will be a fab item of jewelry or a new lip colour that I covet. She is a modern version of the classic 50s icon - the blonde hair, the red lips and nails, even her eyebrows but she is so up-to-date it hurts.

I suppose with Gwen we should start at the top with the hair. When I fist went blonde a billion years ago it was party because I wanted to look like all the fantastically cool 80s metal bands that I loved (yes they were men, what?) and then along came No Doubt and Tragic Kingdom and she looked so cool and I wanted her hair. How the hell does she maintain it? How? I need her hairdressers number. I'm having to have a break from dying mine because it was so damaged and she never even has a root visible. There's a secret I know there is... I need to find it out.

Her make-up (what I think of as being classic Gwen Stefani though she actually changes it up quite a lot) usually involves a flick of varying degrees of drama, a red lip, and flawless skin with not a whole lot of blusher and bronzer going on... just enough. She always hits the right note of made-up but not overdone, again a real classic look that's hard to do. What makes the eyes work is the use of pale shadows and slight contour to make the shape perfect and the ideal backing for the black liner and lashes. Even when she goes for more dramatic eye make-up and a nuder look she still seems to ooze classic style.

What I always feel when looking at Gwen Stefani is that if there were no stylists and make-up artists in the world she would probably look pretty similar to what we see. If you remove the bindi in the Don't Speak video you'll see she's already got her signature make-up look going on. Love, love, love her.

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Disclaimer

I do get sent products to try out, which I'm happy about because it means that I can be as up-to-date as possible with what's available, howeverI absolutely do notreview anything that I haven't tried. All products that I've been sent are tagged 'PR Sample'.

I do try to keep negative reviews to a minimum, there are lots of things I've tried out and not featured here, what doesn't work on me may be great on someone else so I'd rather just not include it on the blog.

Some links of here (Amazon, Look Fantastic, Feel Unique) are affiliate links. You don't have to buy through there. I use Amazon for books only and trust Look Fantastic and Feel Unique - I will only link to websites I trust to sell the real product properly sourced. If you find it super-cheap it's probably not what you should be putting on your face.